'People Making Places' is a celebration of life in Charnwood. Initially based on a programme of live activities and projects over the year 2000 and contributions from many local people PMP 2000 was only the first stage of our ongoing work about Charnwood. This first stage was funded through Millennium Festival Lottery funds.

PMP 2000 is the result of many thousands of hours of work by a dedicated band of community arts and media workers, teachers, artists, designers and thousands of local people of all ages. In particular, the remarkable efforts, creativity and dedication of Alan Cesarano made this project possible. The persistence and skills of Manuela de Castro and Nuno Jorge have enabled us to complete this mammoth task. Many others have contributed enormously along the way including Terry Allen, Stacy Prendeville and Zoe Childerly who have all given such an incredible amount to this project to make Charnwood more visible. We would also like to thank the many Leonardo students from across Europe who contributed so much to our work during this period.

The project took place with very little money or equipment and involved one of the largest youth arts festivals Charnwood has ever seen. It has included numerous exhibitions and publications, the creation of over fifty short films and countless other events and creative outcomes.

The seed ideas for PMP began in the creative community which grew up around Rosebery Community Arts in the Storer Ward of Loughborough in the late 1970's and finally found expression as a bid for Millennium Festival funding in 1999. The project was always perceived as a long term undertaking with PMP 2000 the first, five year stage. This website is the culimination of this first period.

PMP has had an enormous impact on Charnwood Arts and has been significantly responsible for our fuller expression and development of as a participatory arts and media organisation.

The website contains an extensive tour of Charnwood, through time and space. It doesn't aim to be fully comprehensive. The serious historian or geographer will find many gaps, even obvious ones - we don't pretend to a finished work but rather a growing and living archive. The photographic records of different communities here are also limited but continue to grow through the linked ClickIt! website (which as of summer 2004 had over 6,500 images of Charnwood).

The further growth of PMP is down to anyone living or working in Charnwood who is prepared to help it develop further. By far the greatest amount of time, especially from some of the professionals involved, has been given on a voluntary basis.

PMP is keen to demonstrate the diversity and unity of Charnwood as a place, the intricacies of local life, the influence of it's people and the remarkable creativity and industry of local folk. How much do you know about the area where you live?

Ever wondered about the names of local villages, local folklore, famous people and local industries? What about the historical importance of Charnwood? What's the connection with King Lear, the abolition of slavery and an English Civil War? What might Mountsorrel Castle have looked like from the air? How was Charnwood one of the cradles of the English language?

Have you ever heard of Nicholas Alkemede and why did he end up in the Guinness Book of Records for his wartime experiences? What is the Rupal Friendship Carpet? What do local kids think about the future and what do some of them have to say about the past?

The PMP 2000 website holds the answers with around 200 seperate projects and galleries including sound interviews, videos, slide shows, photographs and text. The whole thing is bound together in an easy to navigate and exciting visual design that will create many insights into Charnwood as an area.

The project contains the work of many local artists, e-books, videos and slideshows and just begins to open up some of the community based international links of the area. We hope you enjoy exploring Charnwood, meeting some of it's inhabitants and being introduced to their thoughts and works. We look forward to your participation in the future!

If you have any questions about the project or would be interested in
contributing more come visit us at www.charnwoodarts.com and join our discussion forum. Our ideas for this project are much more extensive than what we currently have on-line and we would welcome any help to take the project forward as a living archive of Charnwood.

Kevin Ryan
Director - Charnwood Arts



Acknowledgements

Funders/Supporters

Millennium Festival Fund
Charnwood Borough Council
Arts Council England, East Midlands
AstraZeneca R&D Charnwood


Production and Development Workers

Alan Cesarano
Kevin Ryan
Terry Allen
Paul Gent
Zoe Childerley
Stacy Prendeville
Nuno Barradas
Manuela De Castro
Alison Moore
Sean Clark
Adrian Towell
Keith Stubbs
Sophie Dubois
Esther Matilla Fraile
Jorge Linke
Marta Ardite Ovejero
Simon Clark
Theresa Malone
Stuart Hollis
Faye Chamberlain
Loreta Ruiz Silio
Keith Stubbs
Deborah Tyler-Bennett
Adam Rodgers
Kevin Blair
John Clarke


Other Contributors

Anna Mitchell
Francesca Beale
Leonie Hodgson
Jennifer Lau
Paul Conneally
Linda Ansingh
Barry Hipwell
Bruce Clark
Jemma Rix

Thanks to all the artists, writers, performers, participants and interviewees who number many tens thousands over the five years of the project - we can't name everyone but please know how much we appreciate everyone's involvement however big or small.


Thanks to

Loughborough Town Hall
Richard King
Paul Hogan
Jo Marlow
Corrinne Ferraby
Lynda Howe
Libby Bridge